Illogicality and Irrationality; Federal Court decides Refugee Case

The Federal Court of Australia has recently handed down its decision in the case of SZOOR v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship [2012] FCAFC 58. In this appeal from the Refugee Review Tribunal, the court found that a lack of logic or rationality in the decision making process does not of itself give rise to a reviewable error of law.

The case concerned a citizen of Pakistan who had applied for a protection visa in Australia on 14 February 2006. The appellant advanced his claim of persecution on the ground of his political opinion due to his involvement in an anti-Islamic news report segment. The Tribunal had arrived at its decision against the appellant in part by relying on an anonymous letter of unverified allegations. Consequently, the appellant argued that this was an instance of jurisdictional error on the basis that this reliance was illogical and irrational.

The Federal Court found that there was no illogicality or irrationality sufficient to give rise to an instance of jurisdictional error. It stated that if given the evidence before the Tribunal, regardless of the letter, if the decision is still one that a logical and rational person could arrive at, then the decision would be a logical and rational one. The facts were that the Tribunal had reached the conclusion that the appellant’s claims were untruthful independently of the anonymous letter; thus there was no jurisdictional error.

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